Isaiah 29
29
1Woe [to] Ariel, Ariel, The city of the encampment of David! Add year to year, let festivals go round.
2And I have sent distress to Ariel, And it hath been lamentation and mourning, And it hath been to me as Ariel.
3And I encamped, O babbler, against thee, And I laid siege against thee — a camp. And I raised up against thee bulwarks.
4And thou hast been low, From the earth thou speakest, And from the dust makest thy saying low, And thy voice hath been from the earth, As one having a familiar spirit, And from the dust thy saying whisperest,
5And as small dust hath been The multitude of those scattering thee, And as chaff passing on the multitude of the terrible, And it hath been at an instant — suddenly.
6By Jehovah of Hosts thou art inspected, With thunder, and with an earthquake, And great noise, hurricane, and whirlwind, And flame of devouring fire.
7And as a dream, a vision of night, hath been The multitude of all the nations Who are warring against Ariel, And all its warriors, and its bulwark, Even of those distressing her.
8And it hath been, as when the hungry dreameth, And lo, he is eating, And he hath waked, and empty [is] his soul, And as when the thirsty dreameth, And lo, he is drinking, and he hath waked, And lo, he is weary, and his soul is longing, So is the multitude of all the nations Who are warring against mount Zion.
9Tarry and wonder, look ye, yea, look, Be drunk, and not with wine, Stagger, and not with strong drink.
10For poured out on you hath Jehovah a spirit of deep sleep, And He closeth your eyes — the prophets, And your heads — the seers — He covered.
11And the vision of the whole is to you, As words of the sealed book, That they give unto one knowing books, Saying, ‘Read this, we pray thee,’ And he hath said, ‘I am not able, for it [is] sealed;’
12And the book is given to him who hath not known books, Saying, ‘Read this, we pray thee,’ And he hath said, ‘I have not known books.’
13And the Lord saith: Because drawn near hath this people, with its mouth, And with its lips they have honoured Me, And its heart it hath put far off from Me, And their fear of Me is — A precept of men is taught!
14Therefore, lo, I am adding to do wonderfully with this people, A wonder, and a marvel, And perished hath the wisdom of its wise ones, And the understanding of its intelligent ones hideth itself.’
15Woe [to] those going deep from Jehovah to hide counsel, And whose works have been in darkness. And they say, ‘Who is seeing us? And who is knowing us?’
16Your perversion! as clay is the potter esteemed? That the work saith of its maker, ‘He hath not made me?’ And the framed thing said of its framer, ‘He did not understand?’
17Is it not yet a very little, And turned hath Lebanon to a fruitful field, And the fruitful field for a forest is reckoned?
18And heard in that day have the deaf the words of a book, And out of thick darkness, and out of darkness, The eyes of the blind do see.
19And the humble have added joy in Jehovah, And the poor among men In the Holy One of Israel rejoice.
20For ceased hath the terrible one, And consumed hath been the scorner, And cut off have been all watching for iniquity,
21Causing men to sin in word, And for a reprover in the gate lay a snare, And turn aside into emptiness the righteous.
22Therefore, thus said Jehovah, Who ransomed Abraham, Concerning the house of Jacob: ‘Not now ashamed is Jacob, Nor now doth his face become pale,
23For in his seeing his children, The work of My hand, in his midst, They sanctify My name, And have sanctified the Holy One of Jacob, And the God of Israel they declare fearful.
24And the erring in spirit have known understanding, And murmurers learn doctrine!’
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Isaiah 29: YLT98
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maintained by the British and Foreign Bible Society
Isaiah 29
29
The Fate of Jerusalem
1God's altar, Jerusalem itself, is doomed! The city where David camped is doomed! Let another year or two come and go, with its feasts and festivals, 2and then God will bring disaster on the city that is called “God's altar”. There will be weeping and wailing, and the whole city will be like an altar covered with blood. 3God will attack the city, surround it, and besiege it. 4Jerusalem will be like a ghost struggling to speak from under the ground, a muffled voice coming from the dust.
5Jerusalem, all the foreigners who attack you will be blown away like dust, and their terrifying armies will fly away like straw. Suddenly and unexpectedly 6the LORD Almighty will rescue you with violent thunderstorms and earthquakes. He will send tempests and raging fire; 7then all the armies of the nations attacking the city of God's altar, all their weapons and equipment — everything — will vanish like a dream, like something imagined in the night. 8All the nations that assemble to attack Jerusalem will be like a starving person who dreams he is eating and wakes up hungry, or like someone dying of thirst who dreams he is drinking and wakes with a dry throat.
Disregarded Warnings
9Go ahead and be stupid! Go ahead and be blind! Get drunk without any wine! Stagger without drinking a drop! 10#Rom 11.8The LORD has made you drowsy, ready to fall into a deep sleep. The prophets should be the eyes of the people, but God has blindfolded them. 11The meaning of every prophetic vision will be hidden from you; it will be like a sealed scroll. If you take it to someone who knows how to read and ask him to read it to you, he will say he can't because it is sealed. 12If you give it to someone who can't read and ask him to read it to you, he will answer that he doesn't know how.
13 #
Mt 15.8–9; Mk 7.6–7 The Lord said, “These people claim to worship me, but their words are meaningless, and their hearts are somewhere else. Their religion is nothing but human rules and traditions, which they have simply memorized. 14#1 Cor 1.19So I will startle them with one unexpected blow after another. Those who are wise will turn out to be fools, and all their cleverness will be useless.”
Hope for the Future
15Those who try to hide their plans from the LORD are doomed! They carry out their schemes in secret and think no one will see them or know what they are doing. 16#Is 45.9They turn everything upside down. Which is more important, the potter or the clay? Can a thing which someone has made say to its maker, “You didn't make me”? Or “You don't know what you are doing”?
17As the saying goes, before long the dense forest will become farmland, and the farmland will go back to forest.
18When that day comes, the deaf will be able to hear a book being read aloud, and the blind, who have been living in darkness, will open their eyes and see. 19Poor and humble people will once again find the happiness which the LORD, the holy God of Israel, gives. 20It will be the end of those who oppress others and show contempt for God. Every sinner will be destroyed. 21God will destroy those who slander others, those who prevent the punishment of criminals, and those who tell lies to keep honest men from getting justice.
22So now the LORD, the God of Israel, who rescued Abraham from trouble, says, “My people, you will not be disgraced any longer, and your faces will no longer be pale with shame. 23When you see the children that I will give you, then you will acknowledge that I am the holy God of Israel. You will honour me and stand in awe of me. 24Foolish people will learn to understand, and those who are always grumbling will be glad to be taught.”
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Good News Bible. Scripture taken from the Good News Bible (r) (Today's English Version Second Edition, UK/British Edition). Copyright © 1992 British & Foreign Bible Society. Used by permission.